'Doctor Who' Series 6, Episode 1 "The Impossible Astronaut" - Review

"Doctor Who" was a staple of British television running from 1963 to 1989. The show never attained more than a cult status in the US, that is until the show was revived in 2005 (not as a reboot but a continuation.) Since then it has been steadily growing its US fan-base to the point that it's become the biggest hit for BBC America. Series 6 ("series" being the British version of a season of television) has had it's premiere episode. Show runner and head writer Steven Moffat has said that Series 5 was all about reassuring the audience after the newest actor to play the Doctor came on board. But this new series is not about being re-assuring, now it's all about creating a sense that things will not turn out all right this time.

After two months with no word from their time traveling friend Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darvill) receive a letter in the mail. All that's on it is a date and longitude and latitude of a location that turns out to be Utah. Knowing that the message is from the Doctor (Matt Smith) the pair go to meet him and are also joined by another time traveler and companion of the Doctor, River Song (Alex Kingston.) The Doctor seems somewhat melancholy and it isn't long before the four are drawn into a rather mysterious quest with an unclear goal. They must travel to Washington in 1969 where President Nixon has been receiving repeated disturbing calls from a young girl asking for his help from the "space man." What has this little girl so scared? What are the alien beings that are appearing but nobody seems to remember? And what do the companions know about the future that they won't tell the Doctor?

The cast is in top form and it's like they never took time off. Matt Smith continues to be a wonderful incarnation of the Doctor. His maintains the mad scientist vibe to the character and is able to exude a sense of age that is hard to put into words but can certainly be felt. It's also interesting to see him so resistant to the pull of his companions when he knows that they know more about what's going on than he does but won't tell him. Amy and Rory have firmly established their roles with each other at this point, and work very well together. It's nice to have Rory now a regular companion (with Arthur Darvill now getting his name in the title sequence) as it kills the overplayed (in the new series) romantic undertones of the Doctor/companion relationship. It's also been quite a while since the Doctor has traveled with more than one companion with him for an extended time and this should bring a fun dynamic to future episodes. Alex Kingston as River Song remains a joy to watch, and it's always interesting to watch the dynamic between her and the Doctor evolve as they meet each other more and more often.

It's worth singling out the as yet unnamed aliens (though it's rumored they are "The Silence" alluded to last series) that appear in this episode. It's another entry in Steven Moffat's ever growing list of extremely creepy creations. Not only is the appearance of the aliens unnerving (something about something so none-human in human clothing is inherently off-putting) but the core concept behind them can really create a lingering fear. People only remember the aliens while they're looking at them. As long as a person can see the alien they remember every time they've ever seen it, however the instant it's out of their line of sight they forget about having ever seen it. There's some wonderfully creepy things about this. First off it makes it very difficult for anybody to escape them, because once a person turns to run they forget that there was anything to run from. And like the Weeping Angels or the Vashta Narada these are creatures that feel like they could be lurking in the real world. Viewers may find a certain paranoia sinking in at the thought that they themselves could see these creatures and never remember it. It's still all fantasy of course but it's the kind of dark fantasy that justifies how it could exist in reality, and that makes it something that will stick with audiences.

There are a few things that make this episode a tad bit off as a series opener, pretty much all of them having to do with the this being a two (or possibly three) parter. Opening the series with a multi-episode story is a bit of an awkward thing in the first place. For any newcomers to the show it makes it more difficult for them to get a feel for it overall. Longtime fans might be thrown off as well, since usually the two parters come mid-season, as has been the trend since the show was revived in 2005. Also kicking things off in such a bold fashion also creates a fair bit of uncertainty about how the series is going to progress, though that seems to have been the intent. But beyond the inherent weirdness of starting things with a two-parter the way this particular one ends is also a little weird. Generally a two-part story would end in a dangerous situation where it's unclear how the heroes will win. While there's a little bit of that here the audience still doesn't really have a very strong grasp of what's actually going on in this episode at the point of the "to be continued..." cut off. The first half of a two parter should leave the audience tense and anxious, but not confused.

The issues just mentioned hardly ruin the episode but they, along with a major event early on that won't be spoiled here, give an overall strange vibe to the proceedings. Steven Moffat clearly intended to take viewers out of their comfort zone and he achieved that, it's just a slightly weird place to start and maybe would have been better suited for a second episode after a more self contained story. Of course it should all make more sense once the concluding episode comes out and in context it should work better overall. There's still many things to love about this episode and it promises dark days ahead for the Doctor and his companions.